Dinner and a show is a classic combination. And one of the keys to pre-theater dining is having to park the car only once. Spokane has plenty to offer within a few blocks of its largest venues. This is where to go pre- and post-theater in downtown Spokane.

That ubiquitous blend of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and allspice begins showing up on shelves and coffee shops at the end of August – when temperatures in Spokane hover in the mid to upper 90s – and doesn’t dissipate until after the scents and flavors of Thanksgiving give way to the cool mint of Christmas

Here are the 19 best places in and around Spokane to get tacos, those delightful little pockets made from soft corn or flour tortillas folded around all sorts of fillings – from shrimp or fish to shredded chicken or pork or carne asada.

Dinner and a show is a classic combination. And one of the keys to pre-theater dining is having to park the car only once. Spokane has plenty to offer within a few blocks of its largest venues. This is where to go pre- and post-theater in downtown Spokane.

That ubiquitous blend of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and allspice begins showing up on shelves and coffee shops at the end of August – when temperatures in Spokane hover in the mid to upper 90s – and doesn’t dissipate until after the scents and flavors of Thanksgiving give way to the cool mint of Christmas

Here are the 19 best places in and around Spokane to get tacos, those delightful little pockets made from soft corn or flour tortillas folded around all sorts of fillings – from shrimp or fish to shredded chicken or pork or carne asada.

Other fun things to do

Restaurant patrons no longer have to cram their cupboards with takeout menus in order to have access to a wealth of food delivery services at their fingertips. Here are some services available throughout the region that will allow you to chow down at the touch of a button.

Whether it’s through a company that fulfills grocery delivery like UberEATS does for restaurants, or it’s a grocery chain fulfilling delivery in-house, here are the stores you can rely on to take care of that grocery list for you.

Spokane’s homeless population dropped 10 percent during the past year, according to the most recent Point-in-Time homeless count. The one-night count was done Jan. 29 and counted 1,033 people, ranging from 1 month to 83 years old. Homeless families with children dropped 17 percent, according to a Spokane Community Housing and Human Services Department report released Monday. The number of unsheltered persons dropped 15 percent.

If you’re making healthier, calorie-cutting changes to your diet in the new year, here are a few new cookbooks to consider. • “Raw Energy in a Glass” by Stephanie Tourles (Storey, $16.95) – “Ample consumption of pure liquids is extremely important for maintaining superb health: plain, purified water, fresh-pressed juices, teas or blended beverages consisting of raw fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds or other green leafy plants.” So starts chapter one – “Liquid is Vital to Life” – of Tourles’ latest book on raw energy. The slim, soft-cover volume is divided into two parts: the basics and the recipes. The basics make an argument for raw foods, juicing and blending, and include a primer on super-foods: fruits, berries, veggies, herbs and spices. Of the 13 chapters, 10 are dedicated to recipes for smoothies and other raw beverages. There are 126 in all, including Strawberry-Almond Milk, Cucumber-Apple-Spinach Cleanser, Mango-Lime-Blueberry Blast, Watermelon-Grape Antioxidant Fusion, Watermelon-Cuke Refreshment and Almond White Russian. Drinks are organized by type and ingredients: nut and seed milks, green smoothies, blended salads, raw shots, mocktails and more. Each is topped with an introduction and ends with a listing of nutrients. The Watermelon-Cuke Refreshment, for example, is a good source of antioxidants and vitamin C. The design is bright and fresh, with crisp whites, greens and cut-out images of ingredients, like almonds and slices of peaches and pears.

Where is David Stern when you need him? In 2011, he vetoed a three-team deal that would’ve sent Chris Paul to the Lakers because he determined it wasn’t in the best interests of the league-owned New Orleans Hornets at the time. So how is it in the best interest of the league now to have Phil Jackson running the Knicks and Jeanie Buss running the Lakers? There’s this really tall new commissioner, Adam Silver, who looks really small if he’s going to permit the engaged lovebirds to run different teams from the same king-sized bed.

City leaders appear ready to back a new labor contract for Spokane’s police officers. Spokane Police Guild leaders and Mayor David Condon agreed to a five-year labor contract Monday. The deal, which still must be approved by guild members and the City Council, was unveiled Tuesday for public scrutiny.

Rogers High School football coach Matt Miethe met with players Friday morning for the last time as their coach. Whitworth University announced later that day that the school’s new football coach, Rod Sandberg, hired Miethe to coach Whitworth’s offensive line. Miethe will remain at Rogers as a physical education teacher and assistant wrestling coach, but he will give up his duties as football coach and a JV softball coach.

A new kind of race car made its debut Monday with cartoonishly loud revving, the smell of burning rubber, and not a trace of exhaust. That’s because the new FIA Formula E Championship car is all electric. The championship is the first series exclusively for electric cars. Organizers gave racing aficionados their first glimpse of the car in action at a makeshift racetrack behind the Mandalay Bay hotel-casino on the Las Vegas Strip. A setting sun illuminated the towering casino’s gold-tinted windows as Brazilian driver Lucas di Grassi showed off the capabilities of the Spark-Renault SRT–01E, pulling off tight turns, breathtaking accelerations and sudden stops. The car, designed by Spark Racing Technologies, can reach more than 150 mph. – Associated Press

Frustration and support for a proposed pedestrian bridge in the University District area came to a head Tuesday night at a public forum hosted by city officials and contractors. The 120-foot-tall bridge, which would dominate the skyline east of downtown, would connect the Washington State University Spokane campus to the East Central neighborhood over the railroad tracks. The total cost is estimated to be as high as $16 million.

COLVILLE – An 11-year-old boy sat in a Stevens County courtroom Thursday, playing with a rubber band as lawyers argued over whether a handgun and knife could be used as evidence in his trial for conspiracy to commit first-degree murder. Prosecutors say the grade-schooler conspired to rape and murder a female classmate in February “because she was annoying.” Lech Radzimski attempted to cast the boy as anger-prone and keenly aware of his intentions when the alleged plot was uncovered and officials found weapons in another student’s possession at Fort Colville Elementary School on Feb. 7.

Avista wants to charge 9.4 percent more for natural gas this winter, which would drive up heating bills for 150,000 customers in Spokane and other parts of Eastern Washington. The Spokane-based utility blames rising wholesale prices after last year’s relatively cheap heating season. Natural gas prices were at record lows in 2012.